Man jailed for menacing girlfriend with blowtorch

Victim wasn't seriously hurt

Investigators say a Southern California man threatened his girlfriend with a knife and a blowtorch.

The woman wasn't seriously injured.

Authorities say 43-year-old John David Allen's girlfriend telephoned the Riverside County Sheriff's Department on Monday night and said she was hiding in bushes after escaping her boyfriend.

The woman told deputies she was terrorized in the couple's Temecula home for two hours while Allen held a knife to her throat and menaced her with a blowtorch. She says he also set fire to her belongings.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise says Allen posted $50,000 bail after he was booked for investigation of assault, domestic violence, making terrorist threats and arson.